"Genesis II" by Erik Jensen

The Beginning:

In the beginning were two forces: Entropy and Chaos. Chaos cannot be measured, defined or controlled, and thus the chaotic potential is everywhere and nowhere, capable of coexistence with Entropy. There is only a slumbering Chronos, and no matter or space. Out of Chaos, space and matter occasionally arise along the slumbering Chronos. At one point, both occur simultaneously along Chronos. Chronos awakens, but not before Entropy has destroyed space and matter once again.

The next time the two occur at the same point, Chronos permeates all, and Entropy cannot destroy what is ruled by Chronos. The Chaos potential in matter develops, and it results in a massive explosion. Space is multiplied in this onslaught against the nothing of Entropy, awakening a new force, Cosmos. Cosmos steadies the exploding matter and slows the expansion of space. With the help of Cosmos, matter and space are organized into a world.

In the fledgling world, Cosmos, Chaos and Chronos mingle, and a new Spirit arises. Spirit uses Chronos to manipulate Chaos and Cosmos, and to hold the constant threat of Entropy at bay. Spirit uses Chaos to create and Cosmos to stabilize. Spirit then adds its essence to make Fire from Chaos and Earth from Cosmos. Fire and Chaos clashes with Earth and Cosmos, and Spirit adds its essence to Chronos to create Neutrality, which again forms Water and Air and holds the struggling forces away from each other.

The Gods:

After this, Spirit divides itself in nine pieces, each piece to mingle with Neutrality, Chaos or Cosmos. The first piece mingles with Cosmos, and it becomes Palantharis. Palantharis helps his two mighty brothers into the world by holding their bit of Spirit together with Cosmos. Thus Lithos and Bain come into being. Bain walks off to claim his part of the world, but Lithos remains to help Palantharis make something of the last six pieces of Spirit. They put the first three together with Neutrality, and they make Freya, Libra and Necros. Lithos refuses to help give Spirit to Chaos, and he goes off to claim his part of the world. Palantharis enlists the aid of Freya to bring the last pieces together. Libra stands by, watching, while Necros attempts to ruin their attempts. Unable to work in peace, Palantharis sends Libra off to fetch Bain. Bain appears and agrees to keep Necros away from the working gods as a favour to his brother. With quiet to work, Freya and Palantharis joins the remaining pieces of Spirit with Chaos. They create Marlin, Pyros and Teargyth.

At first, the gods think they owe their allegiances only to those of similar type: Cosmos with Cosmos, and Chaos with Chaos. They soon realize that some of them get along across those boundaries. Marlin is grateful to Freya and Palantharis for having helped him into existence. Teargyth is angry because she was created last. Freya is happy to see diversity, and glad to have helped. Bain is angry that he must share the world with so many.

The tension soon develops, and Necros attacks Freya. She is badly hurt, and where her tears fall on Earth, the Living arise. But because of Necros' attack, all the Living are cursed with Death. Freya becomes the protector of the Living, and Necros become the custodian of Death. To prevent things like this from happening again, Palantharis sends Necros off to a dark and deep part of the world, where he is to remain.

Teargyth seeks out Bain and entices him to a fight against Palantharis, who is quickly becoming the leader. They go to fight Palantharis, but Marlin sees them. He asks Lithos and Pyros to help him hold them off while Palantharis sleeps. The two gods, who have taken the elements of Earth and Fire as their spheres of interest, agree to help, if only Marlin will create someone to judge between them when they disagree.

The three take a stand against the two. Lithos fights valiantly and with great strength and resilience. Marlin keeps Teargyth occupied, and Pyros has trouble deciding whom to help. He opts to attack Bain, who retaliates with a mighty strike that sends Pyros across the world, and he falls off the horizon. Terrified that he might fall into Entropy, Pyros creates a huge ball of fire and rides it back to the scene of the battle. The new rising sun awakes Palantharis, who comes to see what is going on. Teargyth is struck with fear at the arrival of the mighty god, and she flees dishonourably. Bain, however, refuses to flee. To keep from further bloodshed, they agree to summon the neutral Libra to arbitrate. Libra arrives, but she refuses to pass judgement, and the conflict remains unsolved.

Marlin creates Airos to lord over the element of Air and Hydros to control the element of Water. The two new gods are to judge between Pyros and Lithos. They are infused with the essence of Neutrality, and they, like Libra, refuse to pass judgement. The result is a massive fight between the four elemental gods. Where their drops of blood, tears and sweat land, they create habitable places for the Living, who no longer need Freya's constant attention to keep Necros at bay.

The Living flourish, and Necros creeps out from his dark place to claim his share. Without his attack on Freya, the Living would never have appeared, he reasons. Freya sends Marlin to get Palantharis, who appears and stops Necros in his harvest. Necros goes off to Chronos and takes a bowl of it with him. He places the bowl before Palantharis and demands that he be allowed to take his children when the Chronos is out. Palantharis asks how long Necros intends to keep them, and Necros replies that he will keep them for eternity. Palantharis reasons that since these children should remain with both parents equally long, they must first reside with Freya for eternity. Necros is not satisfied with this arrangement. He claims that it would not be a just way to do things. Palantharis finds himself agreeing, and he is forced to make a different arrangement: Necros can take those that are worthy only of him, and the others of the original nine gods can take those they like, too. Although not satisfied, Palantharis is forced to let status settle thus.

The Second Generation:

More gods are added to the existing eleven, as Freya and Libra each give birth to two offspring. Freya has a son with Lithos and a daughter with Pyros. Libra has twins with Bain, one black as Bain and one red as Libra. Freya names her son Erox and her daughter Timia. Erox teaches the Living ways to create life from hard work and earth, giving the Living agriculture. Timia teaches them how to create life from fire in their spirits, giving the Living passion.

Timia's meddling with the state of things angers the three mighty brothers of Cosmos. They each go to pay the offender a visit. Palantharis arrives first. He finds her with Marlin in his wooden glade. He interrupts them, but Marlin defends her. He asks Palantharis to remember how Marlin helped save the King of the Gods from Teargyth and Bain. Palantharis is angry, but he controls his temper. He warns Timia, and he tells her that if she ever disrupts the world again, he will send her to Necros. Marlin leaves with Palantharis.

Just as they have left, Lithos arrives in the glade. He goes forth in his entire might, but Timia talks to him, promising him a son if he does not send her to Necros. Lithos is ensnared by her power and agrees.

Shortly after Lithos leaves, Bain arrives in the glade. He sends her to the ground with one fell strike from his mighty weapon. Then he has his way with her, and takes her with him to his home, where he locks her up.

Some time later, Marlin starts wondering where Timia went, and he starts looking for her. He finds her alone in Bain's home, giving birth to two sons. The first comes out dead as a result of violence, the other comes out with a weapon in his hand. Marlin quickly brings Timia and her dead son to Lithos.

The living child is the son of Bain, and he is named Bane after his father and his bloody deed even while in his mother's womb. Lithos is enraged as he hears of the death of his son. He takes his weapons and goes to Bain's home. There he demands that Bain give up the boy, so that he can become Lithos' son instead. Bain blatantly refuses, even though he is not armed at the time. Lithos attacks, and Bain defends himself as best he can. During the fight, Libra passes by with her twin sons. They immediately run to their father's aid, and Lithos slays them. Then he withdraws, satisfied.

Bain's wrath knows no bounds, and he takes out his weapons to go and kill Lithos. On his way there he meets Marlin, who is going home after leaving Timia with Lithos. Marlin asks where Bain is going. The mighty god is short of patience at that point, and he commands Marlin to go away. Marlin refuses, but he fears the mighty god and his weapons. In the end, Bain chases after Marlin, who flees through the woods towards Palantharis' home. Palantharis emerges and demands that Bain remove himself from the area. Bain is driven by sheer rage, and he challenges Palantharis to a duel.

The duel is long and hard, but in the end Bain is forced to acknowledge Palantharis' superiority. He pays for his freedom from Necros by promising to send his next son to Palantharis. Marlin thanks Palantharis for his help, and they swear and oath of friendship.

After that, Marlin quickly runs to Lithos' home to warn Timia. He knows she is in danger as long as Bain owes Palantharis a son. While he runs, he asks Chronos that he will help him make it there in time. Chronos agrees in exchange for a form to assume.

With help from Chronos, Marlin arrives before Bain. He whisks Timia away. Bain arrives to find her gone, and goes to her home. Finding it empty also, he curses Timia, destroys her home, and swears she will be fleeing in all eternity.

The following day, Bain goes to Teargyth. Afterwards he tells her to present the resulting son to Palantharis as reparation. Teargyth goes to Palantharis and tells him what Bain has done to her. She demands vengeance. Palantharis agrees to decree that such actions will be punished, and he will talk to Bain to keep him from doing it again, but he will not send Bain to Necros. Teargyth leaves in anger.

She goes to Necros to talk with him of a way to get even. He offers to take Bain, if he can have the life that grows in her womb. Teargyth readily agrees. The unborn child is called Tayah, and she is symbol of wasted potential, and she stays with Necros. After that, Necros goes to Bain's home, his weapon ready. He finds Bain sleeping, and he strikes him as hard as he can, but the War God is powerful, and he survives the blow. He grabs Necros and threatens to break every bone in his body. To avoid this, Necros swears that he will follow Bain anywhere. Bain lets Necros go, and Necros tells who sent him and why.

Bain is angered, but he decides to wait until the sun rises again, so he has time to recover from the blow he suffered. That way Teargyth has time to get Pyros and Timia to help her against Bain.

As Bain finds Teargyth the next day, she is with her allies. Bain demands that she comes willingly, and she refuses. Then he goes forth, and Timia is forced to flee because of Bain's curse against her. Pyros puts up a good fight, but Bain strikes him so hard that sparks fly in all directions, and these become the stars. Teargyth fights desperately against Bain, but it is futile. She fights back until Bain scars her horribly. To avoid going to Necros, she agrees to bear his son and bring him to Palantharis. Bain leaves, and Timia returns and tends to the wounds of the mauled Teargyth.

The son is brought to Palantharis, who brings him up as his own. The boy is a mighty warrior from his father, but growing up with Palantharis has affected him. The council of gods awards him war as a portfolio in an effort to weigh against the other two gods of war, and he selects the name Baine.

Death:

The peace that arises is not very lasting. Necros starts harvesting Living who do not belong to him. To even out the difference, Marlin dips some of the Living in the bowl of Chronos that has not yet run out. Doing so splashes a little Chronos on other living as well, and thus not all Living are harvested by Necros after the same time. Necros goes to Bain and asks him to walk among the living. Where he walks, the Chronos cannot protect the Living, and Necros harvests again. Libra passes by and starts talking with Bain, who stops. The frustrated Necros takes a piece of cloth, and rubs the Living with it, thus being able to harvest them, but the method is slow. Freya arrives to check on the Living and sees Necros among them. She fetches Palantharis who sends Necros off and warns Bain not to walk too often among the Living.

Chronos Takes Form:

Marlin starts thinking about what he promised Chronos when he sees the bowl. He commands one of the Living who was dipped in the bowl to drink from the Chronos. He obeys, but the trace of Spirit in him is not strong enough to bear a merging with Chronos. Marlin goes off to find Freya to help him. In the meantime, Bain sees what is happening. He commands another Living to drink the Chronos, and he is obeyed. He pours his essence into the Living as he drinks, and the Living has enough Spirit to allow the Chronos to take form. But the ancient force of Chronos is more powerful than Bain the God, and the new form is far more powerful than Bain had anticipated. The Living commands Bain to leave, and he is forced to do so. Libra sees this, and she commands yet another Living to drink from the Chronos, pouring her gentler essence into the Living. The Living empties the last drops of Chronos from the bowl. The new Living goes to the first of the Chronos-forms and tends him, helping him to survive while Marlin seeks aid with Freya. As he arrives, Marlin pours his essence into the Living, who awakes. Bain's Living asks Libra's Living to join him and do as Timia suggests. She refuses the selfish Living, and instead goes to Marlin's Living. Bain's Living has Bain's rage in him, and he kills Libra's Living, and as her blood pours on the two remaining Living, Chronos removes most of their powers, afraid that they will deprive him of a form. The selfish Living goes to serve his god, since he no longer holds power to deny him. Marlin's Living is called Nokar, and Bain's Living is called Rakon.

Palantharis finds Nokar, who is mourning the death of his saviour. Palantharis takes him along to teach him of justice. But Chronos demands that Nokar is given to him as his form. Palantharis allows this only if he is allowed to teach justice to Nokar first. Chronos refuses, and Palantharis goes to Lithos, and commands him to make a gauntlet with the power of all the gods. With that gauntlet he kills Chronos and assumes his powers and responsibilities.

Libra's Offspring:

Libra is bitter. All she created has been destroyed. Lithos comforts her, and together they have a son. Libra takes him to Palantharis for protection, and the boy grows up there. Lithos names him Torm. Torm becomes a powerful warrior, and with his protection, Libra feels she can create more. She asks Cosmos to give her a son, and he gives her Logos. Logos and Timia have triplets, a son and two daughters. They call the son Magos and command him to create a new force for the Living. He creates magic. They call one daughter Valkyr, and command that she makes a good relationship with Palantharis. The other daughter is called Vida, and they command her to create a second force for the Living. She creates science. Magos becomes jealous. He ties her up and throws her in a hole.

Valkyr journeys to Palantharis and asks that he make Magos set Vida free. Torm has refused to do so, since he will not lay hands on his siblings. Palantharis goes to Magos and demands that he set Vida free. Magos foolhardily refuses to do so, telling Palantharis that he cannot send Magos to Necros, or he will never know where Vida is trapped. Palantharis takes on the gauntlet he used to destroy Chronos, but Torm appeases the King of the Gods. Palantharis then commands all his Living to combat the Living who uses Magos' force. Even while severely crippled by his loss of support among the Living, Magos does not trust Palantharis, and he will not set Vida free. He flees to his own home to escape from Torm and Palantharis. Palantharis leaves the gauntlet with Torm, putting upon the more even-tempered god the responsibility of guarding it.

Necros is still not satisfied with the amount of Living he receives. He starts snapping them while they journey to the home of their chosen god. As he sees this to be profitable, he creates Brutus to do this for him. Freya has not the strength to stop Brutus, and she asks Palantharis for help. Palantharis sends Necros back to his dark home, and he asks Valkyr to guide the Living on their journey, so they can avoid Brutus. Valkyr agrees, and becomes the god of travellers, while Brutus becomes the god of robbers and assassins.

Son of Vida:

At this time, a confused and dizzy boy appears. Pyros takes him in, raises him and names him Morpheus. Morpheus creates the dream as a means of knowing himself. He dreams that Vida is his mother, and that he, through his dreams, is the only one who can find out where she is trapped. As such he becomes very distant, and his most substantial contribution to the worlds is dreaming.

The Brothers' Ascension:

Nokar one day goes to his brother Rakon to discuss their future. Together, they go to be among the Living, to find someone who is closer to their own power than the mighty gods. Nokar finds a friend among the Living. His brother Rakon finds no friends, but he gains numerous worshippers. With that accomplishment he goes to Bain to claim the right that should follow his new strength.

Bain calls the gods together to a council, and they agree to allow Rakon to become a true god. They cannot agree on his portfolio, however. Everybody fears that he may upset the balance that has settled. During their meeting, Nokar returns from the Living. He demands a position similar to that of his brother, and Marlin suggests that they be given portfolios that counter each other. Rakon is not satisfied that his brother gains the same power as him, since Nokar did not put any effort into it. He demands that a bit of the power to be invested in Nokar is instead invested in another god. Nokar suggests his friend, the Living. That particular Living is then brought before the gods, and they all agree to his ascension, except for Magos. The council is then adjourned, and is to be reconvened a few days later.

Rakon is angry with Magos for blocking his advancement. He talks to Marlin and Nokar about it, as they all three practice archery in the woods. Marlin suggests that they con Magos into accepting the Living. They all go to Torm and ask him to watch over the Living, so that Magos' powers cannot affect him. Torm is not pleased with his brother and has taken a liking to the Living, and he agrees. Rakon than takes the Living to Magos and suggests that he cast a spell on the Living. Then Magos can control the Living once he has become a god. Magos is intrigued by this possibility for more power, and he agrees.

As the council reconvenes, everybody agrees to invest power in the Living, making him a demigod. They name him Gorbag. Then they decide on the three portfolios: Rakon becomes the god of destiny and inevitability, Nokar becomes the god of the unlikely and the unpredictable, and Gorbag becomes the symbol of tenacity and endurance. The council then dissolves.

Rakon's Scheme:

Rakon uses his new power to see into the future and makes a plan. He goes to Magos, and tells him that he has no control over Gorbag, because Torm has protected him. He also informs Magos that it was all Marlin's idea. Magos is enraged and he plots revenge. He decides to "gift" the Living that Marlin cares for the most. They become natural talents with magic, and Magos hopes to be able to control them that way. Only a small part of them fall for his ruse, and Magos orders them to make war on their brethren. The war gods grow strong on the conflict, and Marlin is close to despair. He asks Libra to help him make peace. Libra goes to Lithos, and asks him to separate the two warring peoples. Lithos creates an enormous underground cave, and then opens a rift under the Living that Magos is controlling. Magos is of course angry, and he lets his control with the Living slip for a moment to counter Lithos. The resulting struggle makes the subterranean cave unstable, and many Living perish. Rakon has seen this coming, and he steps in and takes control of the Living that Magos temporarily released. The god of magic realizes that he is beaten, and he flees the scene.

Lithos feels bad about the death of so many Living, and he goes to Freya, and together they revive the Living that died in the conflict. Lithos then teaches them to make tools and to dig, so that they can choose themselves whether to live in or upon the earth.

Marlin now realizes that this was all Rakon's plan, and he knows that only Nokar can counter it. He orders the remaining of his Living to support Nokar, and thus Rakon fails to completely overpower his brother. Marlin convenes the council, and they all agree that Rakon cannot control the subterranean living alone. He is forced to give some of them up to other gods. Marlin thus regains the support from most of his Living, leaving Rakon and Nokar only slightly stronger than before. In an effort to limit the power of the war gods, Rakon and Marlin agree not to start another major conflict, and Nokar is their witness.

The Sun and the Moon:

Having raised Morpheus, Pyros is trying to find something to do. He jumps up to the sun he created and starts talking to it. He becomes ecstatic when it suddenly answers. He decides to turn the sun into a living entity. He makes the preparations he needs to, and then rushes to find Freya. On his way there he encounters Bain, who remembers his fight with the wild god. The war god asks the fire god where he is going so fast, and Pyros replies that he wants to give the sun life. Bain realizes that a living sun is potentially much less stable than an inanimate one, and he escorts Pyros to Freya, while they discuss the matter.

Freya says that she will give life to the sun, but she also recognizes much of Palantharis' thinking in Bain's words. Thus she conditions that the council agrees. Pyros is disappointed and he whines and groans, but in the end he has to agree. Pyros then goes to Valkyr and asks her to convene the council.

The council agrees that Pyros will gain considerable power among the Living if he controls the sun, and that power must be balanced. It falls upon Pyros to create a counterpart to the sun, and Torm agrees to find a way to keep the sun in its present pattern.

Pyros is at a loss of what to do. When he created the sun he stretched his powers to their limit, and the sun was narrowly within his portfolio of fire. How is he then to create a counterweight? Walking around and thinking, he finds Lithos and Rakon talking. Rakon is trying to convince Lithos to create a daughter, who can show the passage of time to the Living. Lithos is reluctant to start a major project, and it seems that such a creation will be a grand endeavour. Pyros happily cuts in and promises Lithos to help him. Then the daughter will also be the sun's counterpart.

They create the moon and call her Selini. They quickly disagree on how to raise her, however. Their tempers flare, and soon they are locked in a titanic struggle. Selini is still young and fragile, and in great danger of perishing while her fathers fight. Rakon sees this happening with increasing fear. He has little chance to break up the fight alone, and he rushes off to find help. He does not want his creation destroyed. The first one Rakon encounters is Erox, tending the fields around Palantharis' home. He immediately agrees to help, and they rush back to the battle scene. On their way they find the two other elemental gods, Hydros and Airos, and they bring them along as well. They return just in time. Erox steps between his father and Pyros and grabs Selini. The two elemental gods do not notice him, and they charge against each other. Erox then throws Selini high, with all the might inherited from his father. Then he quickly jumps out of the way.

Hydros is immediately stricken with affection for the beautiful Selini, but he cannot reach her. Airos becomes jealous, and he pushes Selini off keeping her off the ground and Hydros follows where ever she goes. Rakon leaves the scene, satisfied.

In the mean time, Torm has found out how to make the sun keep its pattern. He puts on the gauntlet of the gods and takes the sun out of the sky. He then talks to the sun and pours a bit of his essence of loyalty into it. Then he puts it back in the sky.

The council convenes again, and everybody agrees that this is a good solution. Necros has one complaint, though: Both Selini and the sun, once alive, are gods that would support gods such as Palantharis, Freya and Marlin in the council. He demands that Selini is cursed, so that her pattern will signify more than Hydros' tide. The council decides that lycanthropes must submit to Selini.

To counter the sun in the council, a new god must be created. It falls upon Necros to find a worthy Living and a portfolio.

Necros then walks among the living in disguise, and he finds a worthy Living, who he brings back to the gods. The Living is called Scoteinos, and his portfolio is night, darkness and the beasts that dwell in it. Freya then grants life to the sun, and she calls it Helios.

At a later point, Palantharis decides to make it clear to the living that greed is evil. To demonstrate this, he makes Scoteinos the god of greed as well.